Entropy

Relax in southern comfort on the east bank of the Mississippi. You're just around the corner from Beale Street and Sun Records. Watch the ducks, throw back a few and tell us what's on your mind.
billshurv
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Re: Entropy

Post by billshurv »

In the early days of digital TV in UK we all had set top boxes to receive as decoders weren't built into the TVs yet. I had one that would slowly lose voice sync. Changing channel and back got it back again, but I never could work out how that could occur with a broadcast medium.

@JR: if you do discover a good surround decoder for not silly money please let me know. I keep getting close to getting a marantz as the cheapest with L/R/C on analog outputs. Having a digital crossover does make the preferred plumbing a little odd. But I accept I'm an edge case and won't find exactly what I want.
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JR.
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Re: Entropy

Post by JR. »

billshurv wrote: Wed May 15, 2019 5:07 pm In the early days of digital TV in UK we all had set top boxes to receive as decoders weren't built into the TVs yet. I had one that would slowly lose voice sync. Changing channel and back got it back again, but I never could work out how that could occur with a broadcast medium.

@JR: if you do discover a good surround decoder for not silly money please let me know. I keep getting close to getting a marantz as the cheapest with L/R/C on analog outputs. Having a digital crossover does make the preferred plumbing a little odd. But I accept I'm an edge case and won't find exactly what I want.
Image
So far, for only $27 I still like this one... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07HRDK898/re ... il_6?psc=1

It's been rocking for 5+ hours tonight and hasn't lost sync yet

The sound is quite good, the surround algorithms excellent, the master volume control is a useful feature for my crude DIY system.

Looking at the unit, I think I know what is happening, but still not the why... It has a 2.1 mode which is stereo (no center or surround channels), so despite the switch being hard set to 5.1 it was getting stupid and playing 2.1 all by itself. Next time it gets stupid I will try switching that selector back and forth. Not that it resolves the rouge incorrect mode behavior.

[edit] the unit finally got stupid again while I was watching, and the 2.1/5.1 switch revealed that it was not in 2.1 mode, but did restore normal operation. 10 days between fails is not bad, but not great. I wonder if there is something about my source (Optical) that is the weak link. I ASSume all optical cables are similar but maybe not??[/edit]

Now that I see the 2.1/5.1 switch I am even more confused because it does not have to figure that out. But it claims to support all these formats ( MP3, AC3, DTS, WAV, WMA, AAC, ALAC, FLAC, APE, OGG, M4A), whatever they are.... :lol:

JR
Last edited by JR. on Sun May 26, 2019 12:09 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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billshurv
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Re: Entropy

Post by billshurv »

I may have to try one of those. I guess doesn't run at full 24/96 on all channels (not looked deeply into surround over coax). As I really don't have space for surround channels in the current house the main need is to extract centre channel so when watching films at night we can actually hear the dialogue without waking the kids with the effects. I can fudge that in prologic mode in the miniDSP but would be nice to have it properly. hmm might try that.
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JR.
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Re: Entropy

Post by JR. »

billshurv wrote: Thu May 16, 2019 3:37 am I may have to try one of those. I guess doesn't run at full 24/96 on all channels (not looked deeply into surround over coax). As I really don't have space for surround channels in the current house the main need is to extract centre channel so when watching films at night we can actually hear the dialogue without waking the kids with the effects. I can fudge that in prologic mode in the miniDSP but would be nice to have it properly. hmm might try that.
Stereo Isolation: 80db (1KHZ)

Channel Unbalance: 0db

Sampling Rate: 32-192 KHZ

Bit Rate: 16-24 Bit

Signal Noise Ratio: 120db

Audio Format: MP3, AC3, DTS, WAV, WMA, AAC, ALAC, FLAC, APE, OGG, M4A.
======

The watched pot didn't boil over last night, just good sound all night. :D

Running from single 5V supply does not easily overdrive my new amps, but my old analog amps apparently had more voltage gain...

I am pleased with the sound so far, but like I shared I have seen funny business with too cheap 5V PS with similar previous unit, etc... I am still trying to put my finger on the sound difference vs previous decoder and amps and all I can come up with is improved surround algorithm for decoder (new in april) and cleaner sounding amps?

JR
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billshurv
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Re: Entropy

Post by billshurv »

Challenge for this weekend is the mower. The governor mechanism is gummed up so it stalls on long grass and the carb is a bit varnished. I could give it all a proper clean and rebuild, but the lawn needs mowing. Given I have been nursing it spluttering through the first couple of mows of the year I possibly should give it a proper check over this time.

What I can't remember is if I can get at all of this without removing the fuel lines and tank.
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JR.
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Re: Entropy

Post by JR. »

billshurv wrote: Fri May 17, 2019 4:28 am Challenge for this weekend is the mower. The governor mechanism is gummed up so it stalls on long grass and the carb is a bit varnished. I could give it all a proper clean and rebuild, but the lawn needs mowing. Given I have been nursing it spluttering through the first couple of mows of the year I possibly should give it a proper check over this time.

What I can't remember is if I can get at all of this without removing the fuel lines and tank.
These days ethanol is more of a concern in mower carbs. I replaced the carb once in my old snapper, and finally added a petcock valve to prevent a slow gas leak from causing larger problem... Low power could also be clogged fuel filter (if it has one). You'll figure it out, or not.

JR

PS: I need to footnote my autobiography where it says I can't drop trees where I want them to fall. :lol: Yesterday I dropped one in my neighbor's yard exactly where I pointed it. Not a huge tree but big enough to hit buildings in two different directions.
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billshurv
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Re: Entropy

Post by billshurv »

In this case the primary problem is the governor as I can see the lever doesn't move under load (like when I engage the cutters).
Secondary problem is carb gumming
Then we get onto the tertiary issues like the fact that the throttle cable broke 4 years ago so It just runs at full all the time and the slightly OTT high temp spark plug in it cost I had it lying around and it fitted :D.
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JR.
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Re: Entropy

Post by JR. »

Also check for dry grass caught up in the air passages clogging the works. In air cooled motors this can also cause overheating.

JR

PS: Sorry about the masculine response... men want to solve problems while women just want a group hug. :lol:
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billshurv
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Re: Entropy

Post by billshurv »

I live in England, It doesn't get warm enough for that! But yes whilst I have it apart a good dusting will be in order. I bought it second hand when I had 3/4 acre to mow 20 years ago. It's a little OTT for my current garden but being a semi-pro honda with proper cast deck it's pretty indestructable. I think I'll get given and older but better condition one from my dad as he's finally admitted at 82 that his days of mowing are over.

Funny thing is tho, I still get days when I miss the lumpy chug of a Briggs and Stratton mower. The Honda is almost too civilised.

Wife and brood 2 are away for weekend which is why I might finally get time for this, as well as sorting the stuck relay on my Sub. Looking forward to being able to just crack on with jobs for a bit :)

Have you worked out how to rescue the Brim yet?
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JR.
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Re: Entropy

Post by JR. »

billshurv wrote: Fri May 17, 2019 8:53 am I live in England, It doesn't get warm enough for that! But yes whilst I have it apart a good dusting will be in order. I bought it second hand when I had 3/4 acre to mow 20 years ago. It's a little OTT for my current garden but being a semi-pro honda with proper cast deck it's pretty indestructable. I think I'll get given and older but better condition one from my dad as he's finally admitted at 82 that his days of mowing are over.

Funny thing is tho, I still get days when I miss the lumpy chug of a Briggs and Stratton mower. The Honda is almost too civilised.

Wife and brood 2 are away for weekend which is why I might finally get time for this, as well as sorting the stuck relay on my Sub. Looking forward to being able to just crack on with jobs for a bit :)

Have you worked out how to rescue the Brim yet?
Life is too short to put a thumb on the scales of natural selection. The brim at the high point were still alive as of yesterday, I think I saw two by the drain 80' away, and a school of them down in my lower ditch...I did see at least one of my neighbors too many cats eyeballing them. The state highway dept needs to dredge out the front ditch across the street and downstream from me to finally dry out the last couple inches of standing water in my front ditch.

It has been 2 weeks and my grass is looking a little ragged, but still no new rain forecast until sunday, so I may wait one more day for my yard and ditches to get even drier. My mower is arguably too big, and too heavy for my swampy yard, so drier is better to not tear it up during sharp turns.

----

In my rain water management strategy I have been trying to chase down a local continuous gutter guy... No response to my first phone call, but he responded to my second try a week later. He claims his phone was AFU and that sounds believable. He ballparked his price at $4.50/ft which seems reasonable. I have about 70' runs across my front and back. I want only one downspout to channel water into my swale on one end, to move that roof water out of my yards. He is already resisting 70' with only one downspout, claiming it will overflow during heavy rainfall. I don't see how that is any worse than my current lack of any gutters. A rube goldberg solution I thought of, is to add second downspouts, but stage the height of the second downspout pickup maybe half way up inside the gutter. This way light rain will flow out the one desired downspout and heavier rain, uses both, only when the first backs up.

I have a french drain buried under my front yard, so i could connect into that in the front. In the back I am OK with just letting it overflow during the occasional too heavy rainfall. He is coming by tomorrow to quote so I will negotiate with him then. I may be able to talk him into only one downspout per. The customer is always right and I am the customer. :lol:

JR
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